Best Wishes for a Rann Wedding but call the Honeymoon off!

Friends of the Earth Adelaide will be staging a mock wedding between the South Australian Government and the nuclear industry on the steps of Parliament House this Friday 30 June, from 9.30am.

"This Friday 30 June is the close of community consultation for Southern Cross Resources' application to commercially mine uranium at Honeymoon, 75km northwest of Broken Hill," said Friends of the Earth campaigner Joel Catchlove.

"The Rann Government has demonstrated a disturbing level of support for the nuclear industry in South Australia, and has implied that it will not oppose the granting of a license to the mine uranium at Honeymoon. This is despite the fact that this is a high-risk operation that after a mere 4-6 years of operation will leave a legacy of groundwater contamination," continued Mr. Catchlove.

"Even as a trial mine, Honeymoon has had a disastrous record of spills and leaks," said Friends of the Earth campaigner Peter Burdon.

"In 1999, among several other accidents, Honeymoon had a spill of some 9,600 litres of uraniumbearing 'process fluid' and leaked sulphuric acid into groundwater. It will be part of mine procedure to dump radioactive and heavy metals waste into groundwater, with no responsibility to rehabilitate the aquifer at the conclusion of operations," said Mr. Burdon.

"Uranium mining has no place in a sustainable future, and should be phased out rather than expanded," said Mr. Catchlove.

"While we offer our warmest wishes for Premier Rann's upcoming wedding, when it comes to the nuclear industry, we urge him to call the Honeymoon off," he said.

Photographic opportunities:
Friends of the Earth Adelaide will be staging a colourful mock wedding, including a giant puppet, on the steps of Parliament House, from 9.30am-10.30am, Friday 30 June.